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8/27/2008

Unexpected meeting with Don :)

Some words about my favourite site. Afterall, it was responsible for the encounter I so dearly enjoyed.
I literally “stumbled upon” Cricinfo during the early part of my engineering. Needless to say, it was of great help- I could get live scores during class hours. And it helped to have some sort of proof to all sorts of weird cricket facts I quoted- I’ve won quite a few bets.
Then came work, and Cricinfo became an integral part of my life. People come to office and check mails; I dedicate the first half an hour to Cricinfo. The window would be open all day if any international match (yes, ANY match) is going on.Nowadays I Hardly watch cricket matches on TV, even if have access to TV. Cricinfo provides better commentary, and wittier comments. Moreover, I can skim through ten overs in about 50 seconds. Above all- one doesn’t get bored even if the match is delayed. See the coverage of this washed out match between India and Sri Lanka.
Its the great Don's birthday tomorrow, and the commentator, Sriram Veera, kept us (it was just me at first, and I kept mailing the stories to my collegues as and when they were posted...) amused. my personal favorite? the one with the timestamp 3:34 pm. what the heck, I'll just copy the contents here. for others, though, you have to go to cricinfo. A fanciful story from Michael Henderson on Don. Absolute Gem. evertheless, I think I have a beauty. It was told to me by the great Australian batsman, Dean Jones, who positively swore on the head of his daughter it happened, and I have since been told that Merv Hughes also confirms its truth.The scene is set at a Test match between Australia and the West Indies at Adelaide Oval back in February 1989. These were the days when the Windies were the greatest power the cricketing world had ever seen, the days when they used to select 11 fast bowlers in the team and a 12th man who was a fast bowler just to be on the safe side.And it was into just such a furnace that the young bowler Mervyn Hughes walked - with bat in hand. Figuring fortune favoured the brave, Hughes wielded the willow like an axeman his axe, and somehow - after snicking fortutiously, connecting full-bloodedly, and missing entirely - he finished the day's play at 72 not out.The tradition in Test cricket is that the batting side take a few beers into the fielding side's dressing-room afterwards, but not on this evening. Instead, Merv took an ice-box full of bottles, so keen was he to give the men of the Windies the full blow-by-blow account of every run he'd made. So it was that half an hour later, Jones - who himself had contributed 216 - and Hughes and several other Australian players were in the Windies dressing-room, when a sudden hush fell upon the gathering.They looked to the door and there was Sir Donald Bradman himself, being ushered into the room by several South Australian cricket officials. The Don had expressed a desire to meet this mighty team, and now here he was.For the next 15 minutes or so, the great man was introduced to the visiting players, with each West Indian standing up well before Sir Donald got to their position on the bench. Then, when their time came, they warmly shook his hand and had a few words.This all proceeded splendidly until Sir Donald got to the last man on the bench, Patrick Patterson - the fastest bowler in the world at that time. So the story goes, not only did Patterson not stand, he simply squinted quizzically up at the octogenarian. Finally, after some 30 seconds of awkward silence, Patterson stood up, all two metres of pure whip-cord steel of him, and looked down at the diminutive Don."You, Don Bradman!?!" he snorted. "You, Don Bradman?!?! I kill you,mun! I bowl at you, I kill you! I split you in two!"In reply, Sir Donald, with his hands on his hips, gazed squarely back at Patterson and calmly retorted: "You couldn't even get Merv out. You'd have no chance against me, mate!"
What a man.